Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Outside Again

Two weekends ago, the weather was WARM. Really warm. Which, after you move out of Texas and acclimate, is anything above 55 degrees. This is a strange thing for me - to feel warm when it's in the 50s. Growing up in North Carolina, I was famous for parking in the faculty spaces when the temperature dropped below 65 because walking from the student parking lot was just too much cold for me. And now, here I am, a mom of two little boys... and as long as it's not going to turn me into an icicle, we will go outside to play!

Yesterday there was another break in the chill so we celebrated "spring" in true boy fashion - a full afternoon outside complete with hockey sticks, bikes, scooters, chalk, light sabers, and even some time at the neighborhood park. And running. Lots of running.

Somehow I always seem to underestimate Henry's abilities. I didn't expect he'd be able to ride {and really control} his hand-me-down Diego "bike" that took Charlie a good year before he got the hang of it. And when we opened the big box from Papa & Blah at Christmas, all I could envision was how I'd be pushing him around on his new scooter all spring long. But, instead, he screams at me if I dare try to help him. He "CAN DO IT MYSELF!!!" It's fascinating how capable second children are because they have always had someone to observe.
I really don't like shooting the front of my house {black driveways, seriously!?} -- but we have no backyard -- so it's the only place we play. But, I've found that I do love the sunbursts that peep over the house when I shoot a nice wide angle from the edge of the driveway {where I'm planted anyway because the shade is still too cold!} and the leading lines of the sidewalks.
Charlie was a serious sidewalk chalker when he was Henry's age. He'd spend hours filling the driveway with bright colors! But H-man isn't as interested. Charlie is very artistic and creative while Henry is incredibly physical and active. He stayed still long enough to write a couple of letter Hs and watched me write MAX and draw a rainbow... then he found he could make a game of throwing the chalk pieces through the "tunnel" of his legs and chase after them. And... that was that. It's nice to finally have some pictures of the moment, even though it was fleeting.
When Charlie got home from school, we picked up Cooper to play with us. I'd like to take a minute here to point out the holes in Charlie's jeans. No, I didn't buy them that way. Being a boy did that. And it happens to every.single.pair.of.pants. ALL the jeans and even the overpriced Mini Boden lined cargo pants. We even have holes in pajama pants this year... We buy a slew of pants in August and by January, it's time for another round of shopping. Seriously? As frustrating as it is to see good clothes go to waste, it's one of those things that I secretly love about being a mom of boys. I love how their energy and zeal for activity shows up in those worn-out spaces on their knees.
When the electric scooter ran out of battery power, they asked to go to the park and I shocked them by saying yes!